Here’s the English translation of the article:
“With the uninterrupted drain of retirements, there will only be an increase in the deficit” of guards, as well as “the aging of those who remain, making the desired and imperative rejuvenation and reinforcement of staff impossible,” states the ASCCGP in a press release.
Regarding the opening of a competition for 225 more prison guards, the ASCCGP recalls that in the last competition, only 60% of the positions were filled, even with “selective goodwill in the admission criteria” for the profession.
Concerning the staff deficit, the ASCCGP says that the situation “is even more alarming” in the ranks of chiefs, revealing that in the Évora Prison Establishment there is only one chief on duty, and the guard who is on duty that day as “team leader” is the one who goes to dispatch with the director of that prison.
The ASCCGP also draws the attention of political power to the lack of attractiveness of the profession and to prison overcrowding, criticizing that, despite warnings from unions and the recent questioning of the Minister of Justice and the Deputy Secretary of State for Justice in parliament, “tangibly, nothing has been changed” in the prison system.
“In a simplistic and friendly way, they changed some directors (…) and only romantic optimists will be left with an idea of tranquility and normalization. But that’s not the case,” says the ASCCGP, considering it “legitimate to infer that the functional conditions that provided the unfortunate event of September 7th remain,” referring to the escape of five inmates considered dangerous from Vale de Judeus prison.
Alluding to the Government’s intention to be able to alter doctors’ vacations and police officers’ days off, the ASCCGP recalls that prison guards are still obliged to work beyond legal limits, in addition to the suppression of days off.
“At the very least, in the prison system, after two decades of unquestionable and wise government decisions, both from direct supervision and higher supervision, they are unable to present solutions that do not involve sacrificing people even more,” concludes the ASCCGP.